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Surface Oxidation as a Diffusion Barrier for Al Deposited on Ferromagnetic Metals

Published

Author(s)

William F. Egelhoff Jr., P J. Chen, Robert D. McMichael, Cedric J. Powell, R Deslattes, F G. Serpa, Romel Gomez

Abstract

We have used Grazing Incidence X-ray Reflectometry (GIXR) to study surface oxidation as a diffusion barrier for Al deposited on ferromagnetic metals (Co, Fe, Ni, and NiFe). Samples of the form SiO2 // 10nm X / 4nm Al and SiO2 // 10nm X/ 4nm Au with X = (Co, Fe, Ni and NiFe) were studied. Surface oxidation was achieved by exposing the newly deposited ferromagnetic layer to oxygen gas to oxidize the top two or three atomic layers before depositing the Al layer. Specular X-ray scans are presented and analyzed. We find that in general the surface oxidation reduces the diffusion of Al into the ferromagnetic metals.
Citation
Journal of Applied Physics
Volume
89
Issue
No. 9

Keywords

diffusion barrier, grazing reflectometry, x-ray reflectometry

Citation

Egelhoff, W. , Chen, P. , McMichael, R. , Powell, C. , Deslattes, R. , Serpa, F. and Gomez, R. (2001), Surface Oxidation as a Diffusion Barrier for Al Deposited on Ferromagnetic Metals, Journal of Applied Physics (Accessed April 20, 2024)
Created May 1, 2001, Updated February 17, 2017